Morning Briefing

A Pair of 10s Ended Blackjack Career of UC Irvine Player

When the UC Irvine women's basketball team went to Reno for a game with Nevada Reno, some of the players decided to try their luck at the casinos.

Valerie Dehn, a guard for the Anteaters, was playing blackjack when the dealer asked: "How long have you been playing basketball?"

Said Dehn: "I started when I was 10 years old, and I'm 20 now, so it's been 10 years."

The legal age for gambling in Nevada is 21.

Thus ended Valerie's blackjack career.

The subject was Marc Wilson, and Jim Donaldson of the Providence Journal-Bulletin quoted a member of the New England Patriots' organization as saying: "He's not what you think of when you think of a Raiders' quarterback.

"He's not a Ken Stabler or a George Blanda or a Jim Plunkett. He's a meek, milquetoasty sort of guy. He's nice. He's quiet.

"Plunkett was quiet. But there was a side to Jim a lot of people didn't know about. There were plenty of times when he was here in New England that he'd show up for practice after having been out all night. He wasn't averse to going out with the boys."

Trivia Time: In what Super Bowl were the leading ground gainers for both teams from the same school? (Answer below.)

Now-it-can-be-told dept.: Linebacker Otis Wilson of the Chicago Bears told the New York Times he knew the Rams were cooked in the third quarter.

"We heard them arguin' at each other on the field," Wilson said. "You know. 'Let's get it together,' and 'Catch the ball!' You could feel the frustration creepin' in on them."

For What It's Worth: Jerry Burns, new coach of the Minnesota Vikings, is the third former Whittier College coach to become a head coach in the NFL. Burns was as assistant coach to George Allen at Whittier in 1952. Allen was succeeded at Whittier by Don Coryell.

How is it that SMU, with Eric Dickerson and Craig James, never won a national championship? If you ask Mustang Coach Bobby Collins, he'll tell you: "Because we got jobbed."

In 1982, SMU was the only undefeated team, but once-beaten Penn State was voted No. 1 after beating previously unbeaten Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, 27-23.

SMU, which had been tied by Arkansas, stayed unbeaten with a 7-3 win over Dan Marino and Pittsburgh in the Cotton Bowl.

Billy Martin, discussing the chances of Roger Maris ever being voted by the writers into the Hall of Fame, told The Sporting News: "I played with Al Kaline. Maris was as good defensively and had a better arm. That's not putting Kaline down--he's a Hall of Famer. But that makes you look at who's voting--a bunch of jerks, and that's why I never want to get into the Hall of Fame."

The most valuable bubble gum card in the NFL? That would be Walter Payton's rookie card, which is worth $16. Mark Gastineau is next at $5, followed by Dan Marino at $4.

On the all-time market, Joe Namath's card goes for as much as $180. Jim Brown's card gets $60.